Freight check



@et 28 1924. 1,513,162 F. A. DAWSON FREIGHT CHECK Filed June 3, 1921 2 Sneeshev 7J/J1- .7' .ff i 6 BALI-CT NUMBER PIECE BLOK- Z \"/2 N9 7575 /fL FREIGHT CHECK /f"/3 A Q 0 LQADEDINCARN /P-f ff) STAMP //Vf/V TOR ,Mea 2060 n,

OCI. 28., 1924.

F. A. DAWSON FREIGHT CHECK Filed June 3, 192)] 2 Sheexs-sheet 2 T/w Rare @fn-eight from Consigned n oesumtimmsmte M Mcolmty of SHIPPERSND. AGENT'S No.

STRAIGHT BILL OI: LADlNG-ORIGINQL-NOT NEGOTIABLE Arm/ktm from T 1 I l I I I I I Route Car Initial f'm N DESCRIPTION UFARTICLES -ND SPECIAL MARKS WEIGHT Per K Wedjzsan,

v4 TTORA/E y.

Patented Oct. 28, 1924.

irs s TE S PATENT o'F-FlcE..

FRED` A. Dawson,` or INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA. o

FREIGHT CHECK@ Application fnea :rune s, 1921. seriai No. 474,731.

To all whom 'it may concer/lt: i

Be it known that l, FRED A. DAWSON, a citizen of the United States, residing" at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion Aand y small package shipments in less than carload lots. In the handling o-f this class of freight under present methods there are many opportunities for errors which are detected only in rechecking and at a time after the loading of the car or cars has progressed so far as to render necessary corrections not only diicult but incurs much loss of time,"

labor and expense.

Une of the objects of the present inventiony is to not only eliminate many of the steps ofl rechecking, etc., but enablethe rechecking to be carried forward as the work of loading` the cars proceeds, so that if any error occurs its detection and correction is immediately possible, thereby eliminating many of the petty and yet serious annoyances constantly arising in the present rechecking'systems in use in freight houses in the handling of the above class of shipments.

In order to understand the presentl methods employed inthe handling of package freight in less than carload lots by the majority of railwaysgvthe points and sources where errors most frequently arise and their correction, it is deemed desirable to briefly outline the methods most commonlyk in Vuse at present, and thenv describetheapplicants method by which the possibility of errors is practically overcome, and in case of an error how itsdetection and correction is speedy and certain. 'Y Y Railway loading platforms at thefreight houses are divided into sections known as blocks or spots which are assigned numbers, generally arranged in numerical order. When an article is received at th-eunloading platform the drayman presents a bill-of-lading, accompanied by a carbon copy known as a shipping ticket, to the receiving clerk who is familiar with the various blocks and destinations of the shipments which load therein. The receiving clerk enters the proper block number on the shipping ticket, showing the location of the car into which the articles are to be loaded, and he also gives the shipping ticket an individual iden-I tifying number.V The, shipping ticket in this condltlon 'goes to the tallyman who supervlses the loading ofk the cars in the various blocks. As each trucker proceeds with a load the tallyman*giveshimaplain,uncarbonized Y tifying numbery'of the ship-ping-itick'etand also indicates yon the freightcheck the num- Vber of pieces on the truck.

The trucker takes the freight check with they shipment to the designated block'and after placing the shipment in the car deposits they freight check into a drop box suspended onthe side of thecar. These freight checks are collectfreightcheck on which the tallymantra'ns fers, by pencil, the block number, the iden# ed at frequent intervals during the day and are taken to a ydesignated oflice towhich the shipping tickets are alsovsent bythe tallyf manfafter. the loading is completed. In thisy oiiice'the freight checks are matched with the shipping tickets to ascertain'whether the ballot number, the number of'pieces inthe shipment, andthe block number4 in 'which the loading was done, agree. During kthe operation of matchingthe freight checks and shipping tickets, it is possibleto Vdetect transf position of figures designating the Vblock number, number kof articles,f etc. This matchingk of thev freight y.checks with the shipping/tickets vis a tremendonsgand expensive ftask, necessitating the Aemployment of `many-persons for the reason that the number of freight checks and shipping-tickets representingy the i transaction of shipments each daywill amount to vseveral thousand.

In case any .error should be detected during f this operation of matching the freight checks with the shipping tickets its correction requires a large amount of labor for the reason that the loading has.A progressed to a point'whereit: is diiiicult to correct without the rehandling of a larger number ofloaded packages.

The inventionk will first` be hereinafterv more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawingswhich areto be taken as a part of v`Jthis specification and later pointed out in the claims at theend of the description."y i

Insaid drawings: Figure l ris a plan view of a checks illustrativeof my invention.v

Figure 2- is a similar view illustrating data supplied by the tallyman.

of freighty Figure 3 is a similar View of a loading'doc- ,y

ument or bill ollading illustrating the manner in which the check is used.

With the use of my improved checks, each constituting aesinglel sheet designated by the numeral l0, the possibility of error in handling and accounting for package freight in less than carload lots is materially reduced, and in case of an error being made its immediate detection and correction is possiblej This-method of vhandling package freight is-accomplished the use or" prescribed checks l0 which, tor convenience in handling, may `-be Ygathered together in pads, in the manner shown in Fig. l. ylhe upper and side edges of' the checks in each pad are left tree, their lower ends being usuallysecuredby lany suitable adhesive or mucilaginous material to prevent the checks from becoming accidentally disarranged and lost,Y bi'itpermittingthe removal of one or.

more vof the checks from the pads as the Work of loading the shipments proceeds. The back ot each check l() vis carbonized so thatliguresand writing impressed on its face by' the tallymanare transferred to and madenf permanent record onthe shipping ticliet, waybill or vdray. ticltet, hereinafter reterredftoas tliefloadi'ng document ll, upon whiclrthe checkflO vis placed. As an initial stepin the elimination/oi:'errors and possible loss .'ofzpackages, thel checks are numbered in consecutive zorder,` and the tallyman to whom oneorfmore padsv of checks are assigned is'fcharged with the total numberV of checks"and'heV must return all `used and unusedfchecksfat the end of they days work or must giveproper'account ot any unreturned checks. 'This method immediately attends-an opportunityl for investigating any unsatisfactory explaination that may be given in lieu of .the unre'turnedwchecks,"and their whereabouts ascertained.

"The faceoi' each check .1G is preferably subdivided 'by means loit' certain horizontal lriilingsrlan'd for detining a number oit' major areas, designated' by the Vnumerals l5, 't6 and 17, and' oueoif these major areas, preferably 15,'isfurther subdivided by the verticalerulings 20 and 2l so as to provide ininorr'areas designated by the numerals 2li,

e 25 'amil-26,' for' purposes to be hereinaiter more particularly described. o

Eaehtallyman is in charge of two or more 'truckmeii,and a loader or picker. The tally- Aman calls for the' shipment he'desires placed upeifthe truck," andato tabulate the number of piecesjplaced on the truck of agiven shipment the tallyman places one of the checks l() upon the face of a loading document ll .and Acopies lthe original number 7575 of the check-iii lthe yminor area 24 as it appears linV the major area 16 of' the check. In the adjacent area 25 he enters the number of -pieeesonz the truclg'for instance 3, 5 or 7, etc., and` in area 26 he enters the'lblock numbenor instance, 55, which designates the block for locating the car into which the shipment is to be loaded. As check l() is carbonized on its rear surface the numerals written on its face by the tallynian are trans- 'ierred'to the body of the loading document ll, clearly shown in `Fig. 3. After a checlr illed in by the tallyman the latter hands it to the trucliman who proceeds with the loaded truck te the blo-ck number indicated in the minor area Q6. Ai'ter unloadingV the pieces from the truck into the car the truckman stamps the number of the block on the major yarea 17 et check l0, this stamp be ing provided for that purpose and is fas'- tened to the side of the car. rEhe block num` bei1 so stamped in may` or area l? of the check by the truclzman should agree with the num-A ber of the block inserted by the tallym'an in minor area 26, unless the truchman made his delivery in the wrong block. The truclnnan returns the stamped check to' the tallyman so that the lattermay verify the correctness of the ruclnnans loading, by examining Athe returned` check and see wl'iether theV block number stamped on the check by the truck man corresponds with the block number he previously entered in minor area 26 or' ther check. ln case the truclrma'n unloaded Ythe freight into a car in the wrong block, the stamp number of that block will appear in major area 17 of check 10 and will not agree with the entryV made by the tallyman in minor area 26, whereby the mistake is immediately detectedY and the pieces changed to the right car before further loading progresses. ll/lorecver, it Vfrequently happens that more than one truckload is necessary kto transfer a consignees shipment from the platform tc the car, and as a separate check if) is given to the truclnnan for eachtruck load, the tallyman can also ascertainon the loading document if the total number of pieces transferred thereto by the several checks agrees with the original number of pieces placed on the loading'document by the shipper. 'Vith the use of the presentinvention the possibility of partial shipments will also be overcome, together with the an noyances attending mistakes of this character, which mistakes are of commonoccurrence under the old systems, where suchmis- Ytakes are detected mostly `at the pointsvof destination.

As hereinabove stated, practically all errors are detected and can be corrected at the. time the checks are returned by the truclnnen tc the tallymen, but in case of an error getting passed the' tallymen it -is easily vdetected in the Revision Utiles where the checks may be examined, on complaint Of the shipper, to ascertain at what point and by whom suoli error, if any, was made.

WVith the use of applicants freight check the collecting together, arranging and matching of all checks with the shipping tickets, as obtains under the old system, is dispensed with, thereby eliminating both a tedious and expensive operation, together with the employment of a large operative force necessary in the daily task of examining the data relating to thousands of shipments, for the reason that with the use of applicants invention thehistory and progress of each step in the operation of loading a given shipment into a caris indicated on the check, or checks, representing said shipment, said data being transferred to the loading document where all the data is {inally brought together with the original entries of the shipper.

I-Iavingthus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is Y l. A freight check for use with a loading document in loading package freightv com,-V prising a sheet having its surface divided into a pluralitv of major areas, one ofpsaid major areas being subdivided into minor areas, one of said major areas bearing the original number of the check, and another appropriately designated to receive the du plicate block number, the minor areas appropriately designated to receive the duplicate check number, the number' of pieces constituting a truck load, and the block number, said sheet being provided with a transfer conjunction with a 'loading document for loading package freight in less than car load 'lots comprising a sheet having its surface divided by horizontal ruled lines to provide` a plurality of major areas, one of said major areas being further subdivided into minor areas'gby vertical ruled lines, one

Vof said major areas provided with the original number of the check, and another appropriately designated to receive the duplicate'block number, and the minor areas appropriately designated to receive the duplicate check'number, the number of pieces constituting a truck load, and the block number, said sheet being provided with a transfer Vmedium on itsback whereby the data added tothe face of the sheet is transferred to the loading document when the sheet is superposed on the loading document, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 28th day of May, A. D one thousand nine hundred and twenty-one.

`anni) yA. Dawson. [Le] 

